CARLSBAD  A local businessman plans to build a two-story microbrewery and restaurant with patio seating and ocean views in downtown Carlsbad.

City officials have hailed the project as something that will boost the Carlsbad village area as a tourist destination and nightlife hub. The area already has several popular bars, restaurants and music venues.

Barry Blue, who runs a local hotel and several vacation rentals with his family, said he’s decided to enter the restaurant business so he can create a uniquely appealing venue for beer sampling, great food and conversation.

“We’re not going for the whole bar scene,” Blue told UT-San Diego. “It’s definitely going to be a restaurant first and a microbrewery second. And it will be more about tasting beer than getting drunk.”

Bluewater Restaurant and Brewery will be on the west side of Carlsbad Boulevard between Oak and Pine avenues, just north of a Best Western and just south of the Surf Motel. It will seat 132 people and have two outdoor patios with ocean views.

Several residential buildings will be demolished to make way for the project, which will be built on land the Blue family has owned for many years.

Blue, 28, said he hopes the Carlsbad restaurant will be the first of several he opens along the California coast between Santa Barbara and the Mexican border.

A 2003 graduate of Carlsbad High School, Blue said his confidence stems partly from his family’s success with the Ocean Palms Beach Resort. The Blues have been credited with reviving that previously rundown property.

The restaurant, which Blue calls a gastro pub, won’t open until early 2015 because of the extensive construction required. Blue said the project will cost about $2.5 million, not including the land.

“We’re going for prestigious and reputable,” he said, explaining that the ambience will be sophisticated but not stuffy. “We’re going to have the best burger in the San Diego area.”

In addition to selling beers brewed by Blue, the restaurant will serve a variety of local microbrews, he said.

When the City Council unanimously approved the project last month, council members expressed some concerns about noise, especially on the outdoor patios.

Blue said the outdoor seating will be on the street side of the building, as far as possible from nearby residential housing.

But the council also voted to close the patios at midnight on Fridays and Saturdays and at 11 p.m. the rest of the week. The inside of the brewery will remain open until 1 a.m. each day.

City officials have praised the project’s architecture, saying it will create a “strong street presence.” They also said the restaurant will reinforce downtown Carlsbad as pedestrian-friendly by giving residents another appealing place to walk.